Clothing (Kitab Al-Libas)

When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) put on a new garment he mentioned it by name, turban or shirt, and would then say: O Allah, praise be to Thee! as Thou hast clothed me with it, I ask Thee for its good and the good of that for which it was made, and I seek refuge in Thee from its evil and the evil of that for which it was made.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone eats food and then says: "Praise be to Allah Who has fed me with this food and provided me with it through no might and power on my part," he will be forgiven his former and later sins. If anyone puts on a garment and says: "Praise be to Allah Who has clothed me with this and provided me with it through no might and power on my part," he will be forgiven his former and later sins.

AbuBurdah said: My father said to me: My son, if you had seen us while we were with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and the rain had fallen on us, you would have thought that our smell was the smell of the sheep.

When the Haruriyyah made a revolt, I came to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: Go to these people. I then put on the best suit of the Yemen. AbuZumayl (a transmitter) said: Ibn Abbas was handsome and of imposing countenance. Ibn Abbas said: I then came to them and they said: Welcome to you, Ibn Abbas! what is this suit of clothes? I said: Why are you objecting to me? I saw over the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) the best suit of clothes.

I saw a man riding on a white mule and he had a black turban of silk and wool. He said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) put it on me. This is the version of Uthman, and there is the word akhbara in his tradition.

AbdurRahman ibn Ghanam al-Ash'ari said: AbuAmir or AbuMalik told me--I swear by Allah another oath that he did not believe me that he heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: There will be among my community people who will make lawful (the use of) khazz and silk. Some of them will be transformed into apes and swine.

The king of Rome presented a fur of silk brocade to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and he wore it. The scene that his hands were moving (while wearing the robe) is before my eyes. He then sent it to Ja'far who wore it and came to him. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I did not send it to you to wear. He asked: What should I do with it? He replied: Send it to your brother Negus.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I do not ride on purple, or wear a garment dyed with saffron, or wear shirt hemmed with silk. Pointing to the collar of his shirt al-Hasan (al-Basri) said: The perfume used by men should have an odour but no colour, and the perfume used by women should have a colour but no odour.

Sa'id said: I think he said: They interpreted his tradition about perfume used by women as applying when she comes out. But when she is with her husband, she may use any perfume she wishes.

AbulHusayn, al-Haytham ibn Shafi said: I and a companion of mine called AbuAmir, a man from al-Ma'afir went to perform prayer in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). Their preacher was a man of Azd called AbuRayhanah, who was a companion of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him).

AbulHusayn said: my companion went to the mosque before me. I went there after him and sat beside him. He asked me: Did you hear the preaching of AbuRayhanah? I said: No. He said: I heard him say: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade ten things: Sharpening the ends of the teeth, tattooing, plucking hair, men sleeping together without an under garment, women sleeping together without an under-garment, men putting silk at the hem of their garments like the Persians, or putting silk on their shoulders like the Persians, plundering, riding on panther skins, wearing signet rings, except in the case of one in authority.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) once prayed wearing a garment having marks. He looked at its marks. When he saluted, he said: Take this garment of mine to AbuJahm, for it turned my attention just now in my prayer, and bring a simple garment without marks.

Abdullah AbuUmar, client of Asma', daughter of AbuBakr, said: I saw Ibn Umar buying a Syrian garment in the market. When he saw that it had red warp, he returned it. I then came to Asma' and mentioned it to her. She said: Bring me, slave-girl, the mantle of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). She brought out a mantle of a course ornamented cloth, with its collar, sleeves, front, and back were hemmed with brocade.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Wear your white garments, for they are among your best garments, and shroud your dead in them. Among the best types of collyrium you use is antimony (ithmid) for it clears the vision and makes the hair sprout.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) paid visit to us, and saw a dishevelled man whose hair was disordered. He said: Could this man not find something to make his hair lie down? He saw another man wearing dirty clothes and said: Could this man not find something to wash his garments with.

I came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) wearing a poor garment and he said (to me): Have you any property? He replied: Yes. He asked: What kind is it? He said: Allah has given me camels. Sheep, horses and slaves. He then said: When Allah gives you property, let the mark of Allah's favour and honour to you be seen.

Zayd ibn Aslam said: Ibn Umar used to dye his beard with yellow colour so much so that his clothes were filled (dyed) with yellowness. He was asked: Why do you dye with yellow colour? He replied: I saw the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) dyeing with yellow colour, and nothing was dearer to him than it. He would dye all his clothes with it, even his turban.

We came down with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) from a turning of a valley. He turned his attention to me and I was wearing a garment dyed with a reddish yellow dye. He asked: What is this garment over you? I recognised what he disliked. I then came to my family who were burning their oven. I threw it (the garment) in it and came to him the next day. He asked: Abdullah, what have you done with the garment? I informed him about it. He said: Why did you not give it to one of your family to wear, for there is no harm in it for women.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) saw me. The version of AbuAli al-Lula' has: I think I wore a garment dyed with a reddish yellow colour. He asked: What is this? So I went and burnt it. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: What have you done with your garment? I replied: I burnt it. He said: Why did you not give it to one of your women to wear?

We went out with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) on a journey, and we had on our saddles and camels garments consisting of red warp of wool. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Do I not see that red colour has dominated you. We then got up quickly on account of this saying of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and some of our camels ran away. We then took the garments and withdrew them.

Hurayth ibn al-Abajj as-Sulayhi said: that a woman of Banu Asad: One day I was with Zaynab, the wife of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), and we were dyeing her clothes with red ochre. In the meantime the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) peeped us. When he saw the red ochre, he returned. When Zaynab saw this, she realised that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) disapproved of what she had done. She then took and washed her clothes and concealed all redness. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) then returned and peeped, and when he did not see anything, he entered.

I made a black cloak for the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and he put it on; but when he sweated in it and noticed the odour of the wool, he threw it away. The narrator said: I think he said: He liked good smell.

Ali quoting his father said: Rukanah wrestled with the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) threw him on the ground. Rukanah said: I heard the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) say: The difference between us and the polytheists is that we wear turbans over caps.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade wearing clothes in two styles: that a man sits in a single garment with his hands round his knees and uncover his private parts towards heaven and that he wears his garment while one of his sides is uncovered, and puts the garment on his shoulders.

I came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) with a company of Muzaynah and we swore allegiance to him. The buttons of his shirt were open. I swore allegiance to him and I put my hand inside the collar of his shirt and felt the seal.

Urwah said: I always saw Mu'awiyah and his son opening their buttons of the collar during winter and summer. They never closed their buttons.

I saw a man whose opinion was accepted by the people, and whatever he said they submitted to it. I asked: Who is he? They said: This is the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). I said: On you be peace, Apostle of Allah, twice. He said: Do not say "On you be peace," for "On you be peace" is a greeting for the dead, but say "Peace be upon you".

I asked: You are the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon you)? He said: I am the Apostle of Allah Whom you call when a calamity befalls you and He removes it; when you suffer from drought and you call Him, He grows food for you; and when you are in a desolate land or in a desert and your she-camel strays and you call Him, He returns it to you.

I said: Give me some advice. He said: Do not abuse anyone. He said that he did not abuse a freeman, or a slave, or a camel or a sheep thenceforth. He said: Do not look down upon any good work, and when you speak to your brother, show him a cheerful face. This is a good work. Have your lower garment halfway down your shin; if you cannot do it, have it up to the ankles. Beware of trailing the lower garment, for it is conceit and Allah does not like conceit. And if a man abuses and shames you for something which he finds in you, then do not shame him for something which you find in him; he will bear the evil consequences for it.

Qays ibn Bishr at-Taghlibi said: My father told me that he was a companion of AbudDarda'. There was in Damascus a man from the companions of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), called Ibn al-Hanzaliyyah. He was a recluse and rarely met the people. He remained engaged in prayer. When he was not praying he was occupied in glorifying Allah and exalting Him until he went to his family. Once he passed us when we were with AbudDarda'.

AbudDarda' said to him: Tell us a word which benefits us and does not harm you.

He said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) sent out a contingent and it came back. One of the men came and sat in the place where the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to sit, and he said to a man beside him: Would that you saw us when we met the enemy and so-and-so attacked and cut through a lance.

He said: Take it from me and I am a boy of the tribe Ghifar. What do you think about his statement?

He replied: I think his reward was lost. Another man heard it and said: I do not think that there is any harm in it. They quarrelled until the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) heard it, and he said: Glory be to Allah! There is no harm if he is rewarded and praised. I saw that AbudDarda' was pleased with it and began to raise his hand to him and say: Did you hear it from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)?

He said: Yes. He continued to repeat it to him so often that I thought he was going to kneel down. He said: On another day he again passed us.

AbudDarda' said to him: (Tell us) a word which benefits us and does not harm you.

He said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to us: One who spends on (the maintenance of) horses (for jihad) is like the one who spreads his hand to give alms (sadaqah) and does not withhold it. He then passed us on another day.

AbudDarda' said to him: (Tell us) a word which benefits us and does no harm to you.

He said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Khuraym al-Asadi would be a fine man were it not for the length of his hair, which reaches the shoulders, and the way he lets his lower garment hang down. When Khuraym heard that, he hurriedly, took a knife, cut his hair in line with his ears and raised his lower garment half way up his legs. He then passed us on another day.

AbudDarda' said to him: (tell us) a word which benefits us and does not harm you.

He said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: You are coming to your brethren; so tidy your mounts and tidy your dress, until you are like a mole among the people. Allah does not like obscene words or deeds, or do intentional committing of obscenity.

A man who was beautiful came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Apostle of Allah, I am a man who likes beauty, and I have been given some of it, as you see. And I do not like that anyone excels me (in respect of beauty). Perhaps he said: "even to the extent of thong of my sandal (shirak na'li)", or he he said: "to the extent of strap of my sandal (shis'i na'li)". Is it pride? He replied: No, pride is disdaining what is true and despising people.

AbdurRahman said: I asked AbuSa'id al-Khudri about wearing lower garment. He said: You have come to the man who knows it very well. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: The way for a believer to wear a lower garment is to have it halfway down his legs and he is guilty of no sin if it comes halfway between that and the ankles, but what comes lower than the ankles is in Hell. On the day of Resurrection. Allah will not look at him who trails his lower garment conceitedly.

Ikrimah said that he saw Ibn Abbas putting on lower garment, letting the hem on the top of his foot and raising it behind. He said: Why do you put on the lower garment in this way? He replied: It is how I saw the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) do it.

Safiyyah, daughter of Shaybah, said that Aisha mentioned the women of Ansar, praised them and said good words about them. She then said: When Surat an-Nur came down, they took the curtains, tore them and made head covers (veils) of them.

Asma, daughter of AbuBakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) brought Fatimah a slave which he donated to her. Fatimah wore a garment which, when she covered her head, did not reach her feet, and when she covered her feet by it, that garment did not reach her head. When the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) saw her struggle, he said: There is no harm to you: Here is only your father and slave.

A mukhannath (eunuch) used to enter upon the wives of Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). They (the people) counted him among those who were free of physical needs. One day the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) entered upon us when he was with one of his wives, and was describing the qualities of a woman, saying: When she comes forward, she comes forward with four (folds in her stomach), and when she goes backward, she goes backward with eight (folds in her stomach). The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Do I not see that this (man) knows what here lies. Then they (the wives) observed veil from him.

I was with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) while Maymunah was with him. Then Ibn Umm Maktum came. This happened when we were ordered to observe veil (purdah). The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Observe veil from him. We asked: Apostle of Allah! is he not blind? He can neither see us nor recognise us. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Are both of you blind? Do you not see him? AbuDawud said: This was peculiar to the wives of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). Do you not see that Fatimah daughter of Qays passed her waiting period with Ibn Umm Maktum. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to Fatimah daughter of Qays: Pass your waiting period with Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is a blind man. You can put off your clothes with him.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was brought some pieces of fine Egyptian linen and he gave me one and said: Divide it into two; cut one of the pieces into a shirt and give the other to your wife for veil. Then when he turned away, he said: And order your wife to wear a garment below it and not show her figure.

Safiyyah, daughter of AbuUbayd, said: When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) mentioned lower garment, Umm Salamah, wife of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), asked him: And a woman, Apostle of Allah? He replied: She may hang down a span. Umm Salamah said: Still it (foot) will be uncovered. He said: Then a forearm's length, nor exceeding it.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) gave licence to others of the believers (i.e. the wives of the Prophet) to hang down their lower garment a span. Then they asked him to increase it, and he increased one span for them. They would send (the garment) to us and we would measure it one forearm's length for them.

On the expedition of Tabuk the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to a household and, seeing a bucket hanging, asked for water. They said: Apostle of Allah, the animal died a natural death. He replied; Its tanning is its purification.

Al-Aliyah, daughter of Subay', said: I had some sheep at Uhud, and they began to die. I then entered upon Maymunah, wife of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), and mentioned it to her. Maymunah said to me: If you took their skins and made use of them, (that would be better for you). She asked: Is that lawful? She replied, Yes. Some people of the Quraysh passed by the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) dragging a sheep of theirs as big as an ass. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to them: Would that you took its skin. They said: It died a natural death. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Water and leaves of the mimosa flava purify it.

The letter of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was read out to us in the territory of Juhaynah when I was a young boy: Do not make use of the skin or sinew of an animal which died a natural death.

Al-Hakam ibn Uyaynah said that he went along with some people to Abdullah ibn Ukaym, a man of Juhaynah. al-Hakam said: They entered and I sat at the door. Then they came out and told me that Abdullah ibn Ukaym had informed them that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had written to Juhaynah one month before his death: Do not make use of the skin or sinew of an animal which died a natural death.

Khalid said: Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib and a man of Banu Asad from the people of Qinnisrin went to Mu'awiyah ibn AbuSufyan.

Mu'awiyah said to al-Miqdam: Do you know that al-Hasan ibn Ali has died? Al-Miqdam recited the Qur'anic verse "We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return."

A man asked him: Do you think it a calamity? He replied: Why should I not consider it a calamity when it is a fact that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to take him on his lap, saying: This belongs to me and Husayn belongs to Ali?

The man of Banu Asad said: (He was) a live coal which Allah has extinguished. Al-Miqdam said: Today I shall continue to make you angry and make you hear what you dislike. He then said: Mu'awiyah, if I speak the truth, declare me true, and if I tell a lie, declare me false.

He said: Do so. He said: I adjure you by Allah, did you hear the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbidding use to wear gold?

He replied: Yes. He said: I adjure you by Allah, do you know that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) prohibited the wearing of silk?

He replied: Yes. He said: I adjure you by Allah, do you know that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) prohibited the wearing of the skins of beasts of prey and riding on them?

He said: Yes. He said: I swear by Allah, I saw all this in your house, O Mu'awiyah.

Mu'awiyah said: I know that I cannot be saved from you, O Miqdam.

Khalid said: Mu'awiyah then ordered to give him what he did not order to give to his two companions, and gave a stipend of two hundred (dirhams) to his son. Al-Miqdam then divided it among his companions, and the man of Banu Asad did not give anything to anyone from the property he received. When Mu'awiyah was informed about it, he said: Al-Miqdam is a generous man; he has an open hand (for generosity). The man of Banu Asad withholds his things in a good manner.

Sa'id ibn Amr al-Qurashi quoting his father said: Ibn Umar (once) saw some fellow travellers of the Yemen. They had their saddles (on camels) of leather. He said: If anyone likes to see the fellow travellers most resembling to the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), he should see them.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to Fatimah and found a curtain hanging at her door, so he did not enter. Whenever he entered (the house), he would visit her first. Then Ali came and found that Fatimah was grieved.

He asked: What is the matter with you? She replied: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to me but did not enter (the house).

Ali then came to him and said: Apostle of Allah, Fatimah felt it keenly that you came to visit her but did not go in. He replied: What have I to do with this world? What have I to do with prints and figures (on the curtain)? He (Ali) then went to Fatimah and informed her of what the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had said.

She said: Ask the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) what he me to do about it.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) ordered Umar ibn al-Khattab who was in al-Batha' at the time of the conquest (of Makkah) to visit the Ka'bah and obliterate all images in it. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) did not enter it until all the images were obliterated.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Gabriel (peace_be_upon_him) came to me and said: I came to you last night and was prevented from entering simply because there were images at the door, for there was a decorated curtain with images on it in the house, and there was a dog in the house. So order the head of the image which is in the house to be cut off so that it resembles the form of a tree; order the curtain to be cut up and made into two cushions spread out on which people may tread; and order the dog to be turned out.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) then did so. The dog belonged to al-Hasan or al-Husayn and was under their couch. So he ordered it to be turned out.